


Meet Me On The Battlefield

by Lyssa_Alara



Series: I'll Die A Thousand Deaths Before I Let You Win [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Badass Katara (Avatar), Badass Sokka (Avatar), Badass Toph Beifong, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Demons, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Hunters & Hunting, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Monster Hunters, Monsters, Multi, One-sided Aang/Katara (Avatar), Other, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Stubborn Katara (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph Being Awesome, Ursa (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Western Air Temple, Witches, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), and Zuko helps her get better, cause i'm a sucker for a perfect villain, except she isn't a villain, ill update the tags if i change my mind but i most likely will not, in everyone's hearts, in my heart, in your heart, just misguided and psychologically abused, the rape and non-con elements are solely for the folklore origins, there is no rape or non-con otherwise i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyssa_Alara/pseuds/Lyssa_Alara
Summary: (Witch/Demon Hunter AU)Zuko has been banished from the Fire Nation for speaking out of turn. He is determined to return to his father, the Avatar in chains and his body covered in the tattoos that show he had killed dozens of demons and witches alike. But things don't always seem to turn out the way Zuko expects them to. He learns the hard way that not all witches are evil, not all demons can be defeated with his Dao blades and that nothing is as black and white as he originally thought it was. Take the Avatar for example. Zuko thought he was going to have to look for years before he found an old, experienced air nomad. But instead, he found a goofy, twelve-year-old boy who has only mastered his own element. Looks like he has his work cut out for him with this one. Especially when the water witch who is teaching the monk waterbending has snagged Zuko's attention.
Relationships: Aang & Appa (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Toph Beifong, Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Suki & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: I'll Die A Thousand Deaths Before I Let You Win [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835803
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	Meet Me On The Battlefield

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my very first published fanfiction, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! I love Avatar the Last Airbender and I have ever since I watched it for the first time when I was little. So, as you can probably tell, I love Zuko. And Azula, but she will come into it later. But please, if you don't like Zuko as much, then just don't read this. I have tagged it as Zuko-centric for a reason. Please don't hate. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: There will be some dark themes in pretty much all of my fanfics, but in this one there is graphic depictions of violence, mentions of demons and monsters, swearing, child abuse (cause Ozai is a dick) and some mental illnesses. I may add in more warnings as I go, but they are the main warnings for the most part.

_Meet me on he battlefield,_  
_Even on the darkest night_  
_I will be your sword and shield,_  
_Your camoflague_  
_And you will be mine_  
  
_\- Svrinca_  
  
\--------------  
  
Zuko dashed through the underbrush silently, cursing his uncle in as many languages as he could speak. Which was a total of five. If his Uncle had not scared away the earth witch he was currently chasing, it would have been a clean catch and kill. His first Witch added magically to the ever-growing tattoo on his back that displays ever single monster he has killed. So far, he only had dozens of demons tattooed over the lower half of his back, which would have been impressive for someone his age had he not a lacked a single witch tattoo.

He gritted his teeth as the earth witch used her bending to create a wall that was intended to slow Zuko down. He leapt towards it, his hands and feet immediately finding purchase and using some of his depleting energy, he sprung up the wall before vaulting over it and rolling into a landing on the other side.

He was met with the panicked earth witch’s minty green eyes and terrified expression. A pang of guilt echoed through Zuko as he advanced and dodged the witch’s feeble attempts at defending herself, which he did his best to ignore. He could not allow his guilt to stop him giving this witch’s victims justice. He thought of all the soldiers corpses he had seen, crushed and shattered beneath heavy boulders. Never again would they see their home, or their families. Never again would they feel the warmth of the sun, or the peace of a quiet night. 

He felt anger rise in him, hatred for the witches and demons who had done such a thing to his people. The people he was supposed to rule and protect one day. Even if he only killed this one witch, that would be one less witch to harm his people. He refocused his mind to the witch in front of him, berating himself silently, knowing that such a mistake could have costed him his life if he was going up against a formally trained soldier. It was time to prove to himself that he could do this, once and for all. 

The witch stumbled against a stone and fell to the floor with a soft thud, dragging herself desperately against the floor, trying to escape the fire demon chasing her. Zuko breathed in deeply, just like his Uncle had taught him to do, and allowed his fists to be wreathed in powerful, blood red flames. He drew his fist back to deliver the final blow, thrusting it forward and—

He stopped short. His chest heaved as an internal battle raged on. How could he kill her if there was a chance she was innocent? How could he kill her when she was looking up at him with those minty green eyes that projected innocence and youth and joy, dampened by sheer and unrelenting terror? A terror that he was inspiring, no less. How old would she be? His age? Younger?

Zuko lowered his head, the flames flickered before they extinguished completely, and his fist dropped to his side. He blew out a short, agitated breath and turned around, stomping back the way he came. He paused, sparing enough time to glance over his shoulder at the bewildered earth witch. “Leave now. Before I change my mind. Tell no one of this, or I will hunt you down and this time, I will kill you. Go, now.” Not waiting to see if she listened to him, he continued back to his ship.

Why couldn’t he do it? He could have easily finished the job if he hadn’t hesitated. Like he always does. Zuko scoffed. He knew the answer. Because he is weak, that was why. His father knew it. His sister knew it. Heck, even he knew it. His Uncle probably knew it, taking pity on him and deciding to try and train him. Somehow, the thought of his Uncle thinking he was weak made his chest ache. Why, it's not like he cared what the lazy old man thought anyway.

He decided to blow off some steam by hunting down some of the demons that terrorised the lands and the people, telling himself that he was preparing the land for the Fire Nation once the threat of witches had been squashed like a bug. He couldn't quite get rid of the small voice telling him that it wasn't his people he was trying to defend (that voice was promptly incinerated and ignored completely).

He stumbled across a hell hound, its skin charred and smouldering and its teeth dripping with blood from the sabre-moose-lion it was tearing to pieces. Zuko cracked his neck eagerly and drew his dao swords. He wanted to do this the old-fashioned way. Leaping out of the bush, he ducked when the hell hound snapped it’s head up and bounded towards him, claws extended and ready to sink into his soft flesh and shred him to ribbons (he'd seen that sight before, and he never wanted to see it again, let alone be the one being thoroughly cut up).

The fight ended with Zuko bleeding heavily from some claw marks across his chest, deciding that it would most likely scar and would definitely need stitches, and the hell hound lying headless on the ground. 

Zuko jumped lightly on his toes, waiting for the next demon to come to the scent of blood like a bug to the light, passing his time by cleaning the thick, black blood from his blade. He felt chills of excitement run up his spine when he heard a growl in the distance, and a shadowed figure with elongated pale limbs, a wide smile filled with razor sharp teeth and glowing red eyes emerged from the shadows.

Zuko took up a fighting stance and slowly circled the beast, putting his back to the North so the thing that usually accompanied the beast stalking him couldn’t sneak up on him from the south. He allowed himself to briefly wonder what the thing was and why it can only attack a turned back facing North, but he was quickly snapped out of it.

With great speed, the beast lunged forward and only the powers given to Zuko by Agni saved his hide from becoming a pale, shriveled up carcass that the beast before him would have feasted on. Zuko danced around the beast, sweeping his dao blades in wide arcs and lighting them up with his blood red flames, before deflecting blows and being careful not to face North. Blow after blow he successfully deflected until one of the beast’s claws punctured his shoulder.

Knowing the possibility of passing out from blood loss was increasing with every moment he played with the beast, Zuko used a rock as a spring and leapt towards the beast, stabbing it in through it's spine. He slid down the beast's side and lunged for it's head, making sure to impale it as quickly as possible while staying well away from it's lethal teeth. 

The smell of rotting meat filled the air and Zuko made sure he performed the ritual of death quickly, muttering in the ancient language to banish the accompanying beast before he turned his back and dashed away. If one of the creatures that feasted on that particular demon showed up when he was there, Agni have mercy on him, that was for sure. 

When he got back to the ship, he promptly went to his chambers, cleaned the blood off of his dao swords and sharpened them (something he found almost therapeutic), cleaned himself up from the fight after stitching his wounds closed and went to bed. The next morning, his Uncle commented on the two new tattoos that had appeared on his lower back while he was training, sending Zuko an amused and unimpressed stare. Zuko chose not to answer the unasked question and continued on with his training.

The next time he encountered a witch, he turned his head and looked the other way. He didn’t happen to see the approving look his Uncle gave him at this small bit of progress. He also didn’t see the way the earth witch smiled at him, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, the war would end sooner than everyone thought it would.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is going to be a short series, with maybe ten or so chapters, so be on the lookout for the next one! I have most of the chapters pre-written, so I will hopefully be updating on a regular basis. But, goodbye for now!


End file.
